Characteristics Personality In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

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In James Baldwin’s story “Sonny’s Blues”, one can automatically identify that the two brother’s personalities are polar opposites right from the start. Sonny, one of the main characters, is more musically inclined, social and takes risks while his brother is more logical, academically successful, and reserved (Joseph). Readers may relate to this with their own family because they are genetically similar but seem to be totally different from each other. Baldwin could be trying to show that people’s brains are wired differently than one another with his story. Sonny’s characteristics and actions throughout the story supports him being right hemisphere dominant thus, explaining why Sonny and his brother are so unique from one another. It has …show more content…
He was very talented with harmonious sounds and blending words beautifully. He always dreamt of being a musician even though it was not a logical career and his brother did not approve. His admiration for music made him dead set on his goals of becoming a musician and nothing his brother said could change his mind. His brother mocked his dreams and tried to convince him it was a dead end but Sonny did not listen. Instead he whole heartedly explained “I’ll have a lot of studying to do and I’ll have to study everything.” and despite all the hard work he still protested that “I want to play jazz” (pg.106). This shows his sensitivity and emotion. He was also never afraid to go after the things he wanted and would make decisions in a split second supporting the spontaneous personality trait. Making music is more than pressing the right keys and hitting the right note, it takes rhythm, creativity and sensitivity, which reflects back to being right hemisphere dominant. Not only did these traits come easy for him, but he enjoyed making music, it was hard for others to accept that in his family possibly because their brains were not wired like Sonny’s was.
Confucius has a famous quote that says, “Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Sonny did exactly that! He loved music and stuck to his dreams with persistence until they came true. He went through many struggles in life, but overcame them. He used these struggles to flourish his music with soul. He used his own testimony as a tool to sculpt his music and touch other people. His deep emotion and spontaneousness made him into the wonderful musician he was. Being right hemisphere dominant made his profession beautiful and

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